Denon Pre-CEDIA Preview
Last week, Denon gave the press some inside info on the new stuff they’ll be showing off at next month’s CEDIA Expo. ultimate AV was there, and wrote up a little report.
Their DVD players look quite fascinating, especially their higher end models. They make full use of their HDMI outputs. Not only do they include Faroudja DCDi processing, they can upconvert DVDs to 480p, 720p, or 1080i on the HDMI output. Big deal, you say. But here’s something I haven’t heard before: they offer bass management “for multichannel DVD-Audio signals carried by HDMI”. I assume that they leave the signal in the digital domain the whole way through, though that isn’t mentioned. One of the big differences between DVI and HDMI is HDMI’s audio support. And here Denon is using HDMI purely as an audio transport. (Oh, wait, are you one of those people who uses’s DVD-Audio’s video features? Sorry.) Previously, iLink/Firewire/IEEE1394 was the de-facto standard for all-digital transport of DVD-Audio signals. Now it looks like HDMI is getting into the act.
Also of note is a cool use of HDMI in their higher-end receivers: “video upconversion (including conversion from analog to HDMI)”. So I assume these receivers have HDMI switching. So you can connect all your video sources, including HDMI, to one of these receivers and have one video link to your display. Assuming that quality is maintained throughout, that is so cool! Anything to lessen cable clutter the better.
Link: ultimate AV - Denon Pre-CEDIA Preview
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August 8th, 2005 at 4:47 pm
Is there a reason that these players don’t up-convert to 1080p? Or is the thought that any TV capable of displaying 1080p will be able to easily convert the 1080i signal on it’s own?
Good news is some of them at least look to be “easonably” priced starting at 350$ for the video scaling features, I was expecting something pricier when I read the article.
August 8th, 2005 at 8:31 pm
From what I understand (correct me if I’m wrong) to output a 1080p signal the DVD player would have to either (a) have two HDMI outputs or (b) support 12-bit HDMI. Few (any?) displays can accept either.
August 8th, 2005 at 11:42 pm
There are definitely a few displays out and coming out that support 1080p…. BenQ and Westinghouse 37″ LCDs for example. And a few more on the horizon, like the 45″ Sharp Aquos’ that are coming up. That said, I have no clue about requirements for HDMI outs, or if a separate one would be required for 1080p vs. 1080i. I believe that on the Westingfield 37″ LCD (talked about quite a bit at AVS Forums)there are two DVI inputs but only one supports 1080p input, so it’s feasible that there are different levels of HDMI outs that would need to be supported.
I wonder if it’s even possible to notice a difference between 1080i and 1080i that’s up-converted to 1080p.
August 9th, 2005 at 12:01 am
Scratch what I said about the Sharp 45″ TVs - evidently they only accept 1080i input. Evidently at least one of the models can be “hacked” to accept 1080p input, but I don’t count that. I am of the belief that you shouldn’t need to hack a > 4000$ TV!
August 9th, 2005 at 6:59 am
I don’t know either. If the display is big, and it’s showing fast moving video, it’s more likely that you’ll see a difference.